Post by Admin on May 8, 2016 22:50:13 GMT -5

Friends,

Many of us would like to continue to run this forum free of advertisements. With just a few donations, we can do that for the benefit of the whole ILIASM community.

As a new site, our first full month (April) was ad-free. From here on, we have to either put up with ads or purchase "page views" in blocks of 50,000. A "page view" is what it sounds like: one click that loads one page of the site.

At our current participation rate and projecting some amount of growth, we would need about 8 to 10 individuals to purchase those blocks each month. ProBoards make this easy: if you click the message "Click here to remove banner ads from this forum" (here or at the bottom of any page on the site), you can:

donate a single page-view block for $8 (one time), or

subscribe to donate a page-view block every month for $6/month (ongoing, until you cancel).

Two donors have already stepped up: binarybill with a recurring subscription, and sand5280 for a one time donation. Thank you to them! But their page views for this month will be "used up" by approximately May 10.

Can you please consider becoming an ILIASM Forum supporting member?

Things to consider:

Remember, either donation supports the WHOLE forum; we are ALL ad-free (for a period) if any ONE of us pays.

The money does NOT pass through Admin or the mods. We just see "page view credits", and which username paid for them.

If you are unemployed or on the financially-disadvantaged side of a divorce right now, please allow other member's donations to cover the cost of your participation.

Likewise, if you are a new user, please consider your initial stay here "on us". If you find the support and friendship you need over time, please consider joining the supporting members.

One more thought: If you are a "power user" and your clicks amount to a few hundred page views per day, that could add up to 5,000 to 10,000 page views per month. Purchasing one "50,000 page-view" donation of $8 (one-time) approximately covers your usage for about a year. So, please consider doing your part to at least cover your own usage.

I'd like to offer recognition to donors this way:

Donors will get a label under their name (visible under the "stars" in the left panel.)

A one time donation will earn the label "Forum Supporter" for the month in which we use their donation.

Monthly subscribers will earn the label "Forum Benefactor" while their monthly donation is in place.

And, look: if we do run in to part of the month that is NOT ad-free, well, we'll put up with the ads. I think they are not terribly obtrusive, and not nearly as freaky/strange/gross as the ones that were on EP.

Post by DryCreek on May 8, 2016 23:13:54 GMT -5

Back in the days of EP, one of my concerns was donating anonymously (I.e., not via my credit cards or Paypal).

I discovered GreenDot.com prepaid Visa cards can be bought and loaded at CVS and maybe Walgreens, and the fee to load them isn't too bad. These days they require some ID to setup, but otherwise they're anonymous to use. (This would have saved a lot of folks when Ashley Madison got hacked.)

Doing some mental math... yeah, I account for more than a trivial number of page views each month.

Post by unmatched on May 8, 2016 23:18:04 GMT -5

Just a quick one. I am happy to put some money in, but would rather do it in a one-off block rather than a monthly payment. When you try, it asks you what period you want to apply it to. Do we have to be careful not to buy 2 millions views for May between us all, or will they roll it over into the next month(s)?

Post by Admin on May 8, 2016 23:31:02 GMT -5

Just a quick one. I am happy to put some money in, but would rather do it in a one-off block rather than a monthly payment. When you try, it asks you what period you want to apply it to. Do we have to be careful not to buy 2 millions views for May between us all, or will they roll it over into the next month(s)?

Select "Don't apply. Let the staff decide." Then they will stay "in reserve" until I call on them; they won't get "over applied".

If anything, I'll be sparing: since any "page view credit" expires at the end of the calendar month, if we are on the second to last day of the month, I may let ads in, rather than only use 14,000 page views of a 50,000 page view block (where the unused portion is "lost".)

Post by sand5280 on May 9, 2016 2:40:07 GMT -5

Many of us would like to continue to run this forum free of advertisements. With just a few donations, we can do that for the benefit of the whole ILIASM community...

If you are unemployed or on the financially-disadvantaged side of a divorce right now, please allow other member's donations to cover the cost of your participation.

Likewise, if you are a new user, please consider your initial stay here "on us". If you find the support and friendship you need over time, please consider joining the supporting members.

One more thought: If you are a "power user" and your clicks amount to a few hundred page views per day, that could add up to 5,000 to 10,000 page views per month.

This is a great place, and I have intentions of contributing again. I like the concept of those better off financially to consider offering first. Myself I am not going through a messy divorce, kids to feed, or money crisis like so many others here. This is another aspect of their distress.

Agreed the new members should be able to ride along for a bit, perhaps donate later. One would not like the idea of a subscription before getting to know the place.

Power users: Most of us do not use the website as a chat line. Our posts are made when it is important and beneficial to the member who was seeking help.

Post by Admin on May 11, 2016 8:52:17 GMT -5

Well apparently I need permission to become a "sexless supporter" which honestly was my second choice "Stormaggedon" being my first. So Admin says they will let be a "sexless supporter"if people agree. So people -start agreeing.

I admit that "Forum Supporter" and "Forum Benefactor" are a bit conventional; even fuddy-sounding. My offer to wewbwb was that if he could get the "supporters" and "benefactors" to collectively agree on alternate collective terms (that EVERY supporter/benefactor would use), I would set that up.

But the conversation has sort of rotated to custom appellations. This is no harder for me to set up for a given user than a conventional one. And there are many fun suggestions. But I do just want to be the "sensible one" for a moment: if custom appellations are too much of an "in joke" or too sexual, will it make your posts look a little less serious? Please consider this from the eyes of a newcomer here.

Please discuss: I'm open to the possibility of supporters requesting "a custom appellation of their choosing"... if the community feels that the "whimsy" is not counter to our purposes of offering thoughtful support while we build a community here.

frednsa: i saw something on the wedding night (in the 60's) should have ended it during the honeymoon. i was played so perfectly. she is so wonderful in almost every other way, so...still wondering...thinking frigidity is a real thing and untreatableAug 29, 2019 12:07:04 GMT -5